High, Medium or Low populated server?

I'm just in the process of deciding what kind of server I want to play on, so I'm curious what's your choice and the reasoning behind it?

From WoW I've never liked highly populated servers, yet my current one has gone from medium to low in the past 2 years and it can be really crap to play there.

Thus, my choice of world initially fell on Desolation but based on the poll from Asura Labs it seems like it will be very highly populated, which is good for PvP reasons but less so if you don't want to run into people 'round every corner. And well, I like PvPing, but I still enjoy some 'privacy' so to speak...

It all comes down to WvWvW. You want your server to do good in WvWvW because not only do you get PVP buffs from it but you get buffs out in the world as well. So a highly populated server that dominates WvWvW can make leveling a little more fun and maybe a little easier. Not that it needs to be easier, but who complains about free buffs, right?

I'm going for high (desolation also), simply because it's the only EU server I know other people are going to so I might have a chance of playing with someone I know in wvw, although part of me is still wondering whether I should go to the US servers since I know more people there.

High = more guilds, more people to make friends with, more chance of being successful on wvw, faster moving economy... downsides are mainly that a maxed out server will lead to you being on an overflow server, but that's not really the end of the world, but also more people = more chance of some of them being idiots, but to me that's not the end of the world.

Low will be dead in a month as MoP comes in and bandwagoners leap off GW2 and go to their next shiny game. Medium will probably last a bit longer, slowly dying as people eventually move to higher population servers to get better company.

Essentially, it's fine to start on medium server, but be prepared to pay for transfer a couple of months down the road. It's fine to start on high but expect to sit in overflows and long WvW queues during couple of months after release. Roll on low if you prefer to play game like a single player.

Eh. The "bandwagoners" are likely to jump around regardless of game. WoW's new expac will cause a month or two of death, but then as people realize that nothing changed and it's just more of the same game they grew bored with this last expac, they'll filter around to other games. You'll probably notice people start jumping ship from WoW after the first tier of raiding has been cleared (which takes only a week by people with any actual brainpower, mind you, but they still need to get to 90 and grind gear from dungeons before they can do the raiding), and people start bashing faces into Heroic.

Last edited by DrakeWurrum; 2012-08-17 at 07:02 PM.

I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story. I'm the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? He never dies.

If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that it changes your personality in the real world. The player and character are one and the same.

If you're in a big guild, dont go for the highest populated servers since there's a risk some wont be able to select the server. Otherwise I'd chose a server with medium to high population and 1-3 alliances on it for better chance of good WvW. Or, look at the server list on gw2guilds . org and see if there's a guild recruiting that suits your gamestyle! It's always more fun to play in groups imo.

Sorry off topic a bit, but do we get anything special out wvw like gear or is it just the server buff?

From PvPing you get PvP tokens that you can exchange for gear. You also earn a lot of experience from it, you can get drops from loot bags which will appear occasionally upon killing players. I believe you can also get Karma for accompanying supply caravans and completing other DEs. It's also fun.

-hard to complete "elite" content in the game, fewer interested players and lower skill level (due to lack of competition and shared education)
-emptier PvP and group PvE areas
-difficulty grouping
-leveling areas empty after first few weeks of game release

I would strongly suggest starting on a high pop server. If you want to solo quest, you can always guest on a low pop server, or transfer once (inevitably) the overpopulated servers are given free transfers to less-crowded realms. In my experience, if you start on a low pop server it will take you more time (and money) to move into the higher pop / generally higher skill areas, whereas vice-versa is much easier.

I've also found that on lower-pop servers, because there are fewer guilds really competing for players, "that one elitist guild" gets a lot more ability to control your game experience, whereas on high-pop realms, guilds are fighting with each other to try and get recruits, so like a McDonalds recruiter standing at an Ivy League school, they really have to sell themselves.

You never want to play on Low Pop server.
High pop and Medium is the way to go.
High = smaller chance you actually manage to get into WvW, and higher chance ending on overflow server. A lot of guilds and people to interact with.
Medium = higher chance you actually manage to get into WvW, smaller chance ending on overflow server. Bit less guilds and people to interact with.

Low = Insta high chance to get into WvW (and lose it), small chance on overflow. Hardly any guilds, little people to befriend and do pve with. Usually ends up being DEAD.

I played on one of the low population servers in the beta weekends and stress tests (Borlis Pass). It allowed for instant access to WvW and I didn't see an overflow server once during the PvE content I did. It did seem somewhat empty in the stress tests but was ok on the beta weekend.

I'll be aiming to play on Sea of Sorrows at launch however as that is the unofficial oceanic server, although I'm also considering Tarnished Coast as a possibility too.

For those concerned about WvW, your server is only matched with servers with similar populations. The only time high pops will steam roll low pops is at launch while they are waiting for populations to settle. Thats why WvW matchs at launch are on 24 hour cycles instead of their intended 2 week cycles.

You never want to play on Low Pop server.
High pop and Medium is the way to go.
High = smaller chance you actually manage to get into WvW, and higher chance ending on overflow server. A lot of guilds and people to interact with.
Medium = higher chance you actually manage to get into WvW, smaller chance ending on overflow server. Bit less guilds and people to interact with.

Low = Insta high chance to get into WvW (and lose it), small chance on overflow. Hardly any guilds, little people to befriend and do pve with. Usually ends up being DEAD.

Actually, with the way WvW matchups will be handled low population servers will likely be facing other low population servers. So it should be at least somewhat competitive.